Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday met with Prince Albert II of Monaco, and
his wife, Princess Charlene.
The meeting marked the 55th anniversary of
the meeting of Prince Rainier and Princess Grace of Monaco with Pope
Pius XII in 1957.
According to a communiqué from the Vatican Press
Office, their talks focused on the significant contribution of the
Catholic Church in the social life of the Principality and various
international issues, such as the integral development of peoples and
the protection of natural resources and the environment.
The couple gave
Pope Benedict a picture and book about their ancestor, Cardinal Jerome
Grimaldi, who lived in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
The
Holy Father gave the prince and princess a sanguigna, or red pencil
drawing, of St. Peter’s Basilica.